Since the invention of the integrated circuit (IC), the semiconductor industry has experienced rapid growth due to continuous improvements in the integration density of a variety of electronic components. For the most part, this improvement in integration density has come from repeated reductions in minimum feature size, which allows more components to be integrated into a given area. As the demand for even smaller electronic devices has grown, there has grown a need for smaller and more creative packaging techniques of semiconductor dies.
The current trend of high integration density of electronics also makes electronic devices with smaller components operating at higher clock frequencies and power levels generating more and more heat. These components include electronic packages such as microprocessor and memory packages. The electronic packages typically include a die that is usually mounted onto a supporting substrate sometimes referred to as a carrier or package substrate (“substrate”). The electronic package, in turn, is typically physically and electrically coupled to a printed circuit board (PCB). The die and the substrate are typically made of multiple ceramic or silicon layers. The heat generated by such electronic packages can increase to high levels. One common approach to draw the heat away from the die includes the use of a heat spreader as a lid in thermal contact with the die.
Traditionally, the heat spreader is added after assembly process on the backside of the chip. The process is complicated and thermal performance is not improved sufficiently. The heat spreader may be too thick which results in high stress.
Corresponding numerals and symbols in the different figures generally refer to corresponding parts unless otherwise indicated. The figures are drawn to clearly illustrate the relevant aspects of the various embodiments and are not necessarily drawn to scale.